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It could be argued that British rule in India began with the charter that Queen Elizabeth I granted in the 1600s to the London merchants trading in the East Indies and India itself as the East India Company. This company, which had its own military, began acting as the agent of British imperialism, but its role in India’s politics ended in 1858 when British crown rule was established following what became known as the Sepoy Mutiny. That rebellion by sepoys (Indian troops in British army) is perhaps better understood as the first war of Indian independence, as it was a rebellion against the domination that the British had come to exercise over Indian political, economic, and cultural life.